MADISON, N.J. – Junior receiver Adam Brossman caught three touchdown passes and broke Lebanon Valley's record for career TDs as the Flying Dutchmen defeated FDU-Florham 29-19 in a Middle Atlantic Conference football contest Saturday afternoon at Robert T. Shields Field.
Lebanon Valley (3-3, 2-3 MAC), which never trailed in the game, withstood a late FDU-Florham (0-5, 0-4 MAC) rally to win its first road game of the season.
Senior quarterback Dan Kelly completed 16-of-22 passes for a season-high 287 yards while surpassing 5,000 passing yards for his career. Brossman also had a career-high nine receptions for 180 yards, just 11 shy of his career-high. In addition, Brossman moved into second on Lebanon Valley's career receiving yards list. He currently has 2,231 yards, 133 shy of the Lebanon Valley record held by Brian Wassell '90.
Sophomore receiver Sean Donovan added 104 yards on five catches and made his first career touchdown reception for the Dutchmen.
Making his first start of the season, senior tailback David Ochoa rushed for 45 yards on 15 carries.
Lebanon Valley led the entire afternoon and was poised to put the game away when it faced a first-and-goal at the FDU-1 with less than four minutes remaining. But after two rushes for no gain, the Dutchmen fumbled on third-and-goal, and Rob Felicetta returned the ball 44 yards to the Devil-45 with 3:12 left.
A 17-yard pass gave the Devils the ball at the LVC-38, and a pass interference call against the Dutchmen on the next play set up FDU at the LVC-16. However, on third-and-seven, Dan Huff was sacked for a three-yard loss by sophomore linebacker Brian Cottone, and junior defensive lineman Kevin Krause snuffed out any final FDU comeback hopes when he batted down a pass around the goal line on fourth-and-10. Lebanon Valley was able to run off the final 1:22, as the Devils were out of timeouts.
Brossman's second touchdown was the 27th of his career, as he moved past Ken Wilson '90 for sole possession of the school record. Wilson totaled 23 rushing touchdown and three receiving TDs in his career, which spanned from 1986-89. Brossman has caught all 28 of his touchdowns.
Huff finished with 178 yards on 14-of-31 passing while Keven Martin caught eight balls for 85 yards. Adam LaValley rushed for 81 yards on 16 carries for the Devils.
After the Dutchmen received the opening kickoff, Kelly put the Valley in front just 3:13 into the game, where he connected with Donovan on the fourth play of the game. After faking a handoff, Kelly rolled out to his left and found Donovan wide open around midfield, when he raced untouched down the left sideline for a 73-yard score with 14:48 on the clock. Freshman Josh Evans knocked through the extra point to make it 7-0.
The Devils answered on the ensuing possession, as Huff capped an eight-play, 77-yard drive when he ran into the end zone from four yards out on a bootleg right to make it 7-7 with 9:54 left in the opening quarter.
Lebanon Valley needed only five plays to score its second touchdown in as many possessions, when Kelly connected with Brossman for a 50-yard strike with 7:01 to go in the quarter. Brossman hauled in a pass in the middle of the field, broke to the outside, and sprinted down the left sideline for his school-record tying 26th career touchdown. Evans second PAT made it 14-7.
The Devils parlayed a blocked punt into a field goal to cut the deficit to four. FDU recovered its block at the LVC-20, and four plays later Mike Barnard kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 14-10 with 12:36 remaining in the opening half.
After the two teams traded punts, the Dutchmen struck late in the half with their third quick score of the game. Lebanon Valley started with the ball at the LVC-43, and the Dutchmen converted a fourth-and-1 at the FDU-48 on a two-yard run from Ochoa. Two plays later, Brossman scored his record-breaking touchdown on a 35-yard deep ball down the right side of the field. Evans third point-after gave the Dutchmen a 21-10 lead with 2:03 to go in the half.
The Devils threatened to score just before the end of the half, moving 51 yards to the LVC-9 with three seconds left. FDU elected to go for the touchdown instead of a short field goal, but Huff's pass into the end zone was broken up by senior cornerback Keith Comrey as time expired.
The Devils advanced into Lebanon Valley territory on each of their first two second-half possessions, but came away with only three points. Michael Barnard's 37-yard field goal with 10:19 on the clock was short before a 32-yard punt return from Mike Smeja led to a 28-yard Barnard field goal with 4:56 to go in the third quarter.
A fake punt led to a touchdown on FDU's next possession. Facing a fourth-and-4 at the LVC-45, Daniel Harrison took the fake 21 yards to the Dutchman-24, and two plays later, Huff hit Smeja with an 11-yard touchdown pass. Huff's two-point conversion pass was swatted down by Cottone, and it was 21-19 with three seconds remaining in the quarter.
Junior Clint Vinju put the Dutchmen into excellent field position when he returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards to the FDU-41. Lebanon Valley then went to work on a seven-play, 41-yard drive, capped by a 9-yard Kelly-to-Brossman touchdown pass with 12:00 remaining in the game. Junior holder Russell DeStefano then hit sophomore tight end Anthony Smoker with the two-point conversion pass after a busted extra-point attempt, setting what held up as the final score.
The Dutchmen forced FDU to go three-and-out on the following possession before taking 6:27 off the clock with their next drive, a 15-play, 75-yard possession. Kelly kept the chains moving by converting a pair of fourth downs. He scrambled for seven yards on a fourth-and-six, giving LVC the ball at the Devil-18. Then on a fourth-and-nine at the FDU-17, Kelly and Brossman nearly had another touchdown when Brossman hauled in a 16-yard pass to the 1-yard line before LVC's fumble.
Cottone finished with another outstanding game for the Dutchmen, making a game-high 10 tackles (seven solo), including 4.0 for loss. He also had two sacks and one pass breakup.
Lebanon Valley returns to action next Saturday, when it hosts undefeated and nationally-ranked Wilkes University at 1 p.m.
[Photo - Senior Dan Kelly, who threw four touchdown passes in Lebanon Valley's 29-19 win over FDU-Florham on Saturday]
-lvc-
